Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-12-24

ten pounds of solid food which he managed
to swallow by the hydraulic assistance of a
gallon and half of tea coffee and water
and native man duplicated this bill of fare
to show that he could eat as much as the
boy. Our Christmas contract was, therefore,
not small one For ourselves we delved
freely into the canned stuff we had; and taken
altogether, for we also had everything the
market afforded, we could have spent much
less cheerful Christmas in climates that have
the reputation of being better. In the lone
some frontier posts on the Western plains
have often spent less agreeable holiday.
Nor were our boreal beasts of burden, thu
dogs, to go without their share of the gooc'
cheer, and l told the Eskimo that l would
feed mine, some thirty in number, and il
would look well if they would do the same
for theirs, which they agreed to do. Mine
got an extra feast that day, while they timed
theirs so that Christmas would fall as regu-
lar feeding time; for it should be remem
bered that the Eskimo dogs here are only
fed every other day at the most, and much
oftener only every third day. Their best
food consists of strips of walrus hide an inch
thick, an inch wide, and from eight to ten
inches long-about the size of a hickory
Ratchet handle and fully as tough. After
the dog has swallowed halfa dozen of these il
is no wonder that he can go for two or three
days without anything more to eat and il
really looks as if such a Christmas present
ought to last until the next christmas, or the
Fourth of July, at least 1t is the favorite
food for sledge journeys having the greatest
amount of concentration in it of any known
food, thus lasting longer; while it has another
conspicuous advantage that by taking it
alongin large slabs the dogs teeth can make
no impression on it, if they steal it (they
swallow it whole when cut in strips), and
thus it is safe from their raids on the store
tgloo (snow, house, in the night time. [Once
on sledge.journey l had the dogs keep us
awake by scratching to get at the edibles in
the store house, when the irate dog-driver
arose, took a slab out of the place, and with
some remarks that sounded like mild polar
profanity, threw it among the dogs, that
closed in on it with a rush. They might as
well have charged sheet of boiler-plate
iron, and the dog-driver chuckled as he re-
tired again and curled up under the reindeer
robes and listened to the growing dogs try
ing to tear the tough hide to pieces. Next
morning it was gone and L thought the dogs
had miraculously managed to devour it. un.
til Toofooah showed me trail where wolf
had dragged it away, and he had another
good laugh, thinking how the captor would
get breakfast out of it. The wolf probably
starved to death over it.
Sure enough, Christmas came, and with it
the Eskimo. We distributed slight presents
among them the men getting powder, caps
and balls, the women, gloves, needles, thin
bles, and cheap jewelry, which the children
also got The presents were a surprise to
them. and true to their generous nature the
next day they got up sort of Eskimo Christ
mas and deluged us with presents of rein
deer and musk-ox hams, walrus and seal
hippers, reindeer clothing, walrus tusks, and
all the boreal bric-a- brac that would take a
column to enumerate. The feast was soon
stewing and the air so hot from the steam
and many breaths that the roof threatened
10 TALL In, but as roofing material was cheaper
Than dinners we propped it up. cut ventilat-
ing holes, and went ahead.
Long and lovingly they fingered over this
part OF the white mans Christmas, ant
when they were through the only regret
they expressed was as to their inability to get
down on their hands and knees comfortably
In order to crawl out the little snow-house
door, and they babe us "Gocd-bye' affection.
ately, giving lavish expressions of enjoy
ment, and with an earnest inquiry as to
when Christmas would come again they dis
appeared. FREDERICK SCHwATKA.